Five of a 10-member national arnis squad from Cambodia caught the flu and had to undergo daily medical checkups over the past week.
The athletes have been feeling sick since they arrived two weeks ago in the Philippines to prepare and acclimatize for the arnis competition of the 30th Southeast Asian Games, which will be held at the Angeles University Foundation in Angeles, Pampanga.
Officials of the Philippine Kali Arnis Federation (PEKAF) are closely monitoring the situation involving the Cambodian delegation, which are going around in schools in Metro Manila to have tuneup matches.
The Cambodian delegation's team manager, film star Dara Our, said the five athletes got sick with the flu while adjusting to the urban conditions of Metro Manila.
Our, who starred in the hit, “Jailbreak,” said the national team's training at the San Andres gym had to be stopped after the athletes reportedly got affected from the long travel by private vehicles from their quarters inside the Philippine National Police Headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City.
“The weather is the same as Cambodia. Its just that the athletes are adjusting to conditions in Metro Manila,” said Our.
Our said the athletes have resumed training again this week at a different venue with the help of private individuals in the Philippines.
The PEKAF, which is headed by its president, Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, has informed the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee of their presence.
Since the PEKAF has been arranging for their transportation needs through private sources for the last two weeks, Our said the buses or vans coming from the organizers will only be made available to them by Nov. 29.
The PEKAF, according one of their officials, Davidson Torres, no longer bothered to ask the help of the PHISGOC to address the needs of the Cambodian delegation.
They felt the PHISGOC had been slow in deciding what to do with delegations which arrived as early as a month ago.
For now, team members have continued with their training through their campus tours.